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Lost in nail varnish

Lost In Nail Varnish takes a short section from a super 8mm print of There’s No Business Like Show Business (1954), in which Marilyn Monroe sings a burlesque musical number.

Frame by frame, Marilyn’s image was masked with vaseline, then soaked in hydrogen peroxide (blonde in a bottle) to partially remove the emulsion. Different cosmetic substances (nail varnish, mascara, eyeliner and eye-shadow) were applied to the surface of the film. The celluloid was then cut up and re-spliced back together arbitrarily.

Played back at 12 frames per second, Marilyn pouts, dances, sings and sways, caught in a raging sea of cosmetics that threatens to engulf her.